Most jockeys around Australia spend much of the year slogging it out at various meetings, but it’s in the springtime where they are really able to make their mark. Horse racing is one of the most popular sports to bet on in an online casino and the jockeys can make a huge impact. Below, we’ve taken a look at some of the greatest ever Spring Racing Carnival jockeys from around the country.

Damien Oliver

When Damien Oliver made the decision to move from Western Australia to Victoria to advance his riding career, few could have guessed just how many dividends that move would pay. For over two decades he has been front and centre as a Victorian racing figure, and seems to be there or thereabouts at the business end of most major races. Most significant among his achievements are three Melbourne Cup wins, but he has also won a couple of Cox Plates, four Caulfield Cups, six VRC Oaks, five Queen Elizabeth Stakes, and the list goes on.

Hugh Bowman

In terms of pure numbers, it’s hard to ignore Hugh Bowman as one of the greatest ever Australian jockeys. The 40-year-old is rapidly closing in on a huge 100 Group 1 wins, and while more than a quarter of those were on Winx – who likely would have won those races even if you or I were on her back – he has still enjoyed a huge amount of success on other horses. His list of wins is far too extensive to cover in detail, but among his biggest victories are four Cox Plates, four Queen Elizabeth Stakes, a couple of Epsom Handicaps and last year a Golden Slipper.

Roy Higgins

You have to scroll back through a few decades of history to find the exploits of Roy Higgins, but time has had no impact on the significance of his achievements. Born just south of the Victorian border with New South Wales, Higgins started his racing career in 1953 and spent the next three decades riding horses to wins in major races like he was shelling peas. He enjoyed a very fruitful partnership with the legendary Bart Cummings, who trained both horses that Higgins rode to victory in the Melbourne Cup in 1965 and 1967, while a couple of Cox Plates and Golden Slippers as well as a Caulfield Cup also contributed to the in excess of 100 Group One races that he won.

Bobbie Lewis

If Higgins was the predecessor of the likes of Oliver and Bowman, then Bobbie Lewis played the same role for Higgins. His career started way back in 1892, and would continue for close to 50 years. Nestled within that career was an unsuccessful stint in England, but upon his return to Australia around the turn of the century he started a run of success which, even over 100 years later, saw him win more Melbourne Cups than anyone else in history. Those four wins spanned 25 years, with the last of them coming in 1927, while he also won eight Victoria Derbys along the way. In total he won 64 top level races, but while that number falls a little short of the other three jockeys on this list, his sustained success at the biggest race in the country means we couldn’t leave him out.

Over the course of more than 150 years of competitive racing in Australia, there have been a multitude of jockeys who have carved out a name for themselves in the biggest races of the year during the spring. The above is far from an exhaustive list and there are plenty of others who could comfortably sit among them, but the achievements of Bowman, Oliver, Higgins and Lewis can’t be disputed, and ensure they will forever be remembered as legends of Australian racing.